'A reflection of hard work'

Opener Tamim Iqbal thanks the heavens after scoring a century -- his second of the three-match series -- during the third and final ODI against West Indies in St. Kitts on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Tamim Iqbal has lifted his game to new heights over the past few years and has become one of the most prolific run-scorers for the Tigers, playing pivotal roles in most of the matches which Bangladesh won.

It was yet again a Tamim Iqbal series in the ODIs against the West Indies, which Bangladesh won 2-1 to clinch their first away series win since 2009. The left-hander hit two hundreds and a fifty to become the highest run-getter with a combined 287 runs.

Bangladesh won both the games where Tamim hit his 10th and 11th ODI tons, a feat that saw him become the first Bangladeshi to score two centuries in two different series. He also became the highest run-scorer among visiting team players in a three-match series in the Caribbean, surpassing Darren Lehman's 205 runs.

Tamim's purple patch also saw him climb four places to a career-high 13th place in the ICC ODI Batsman Rankings.

However, the task was not easy for Tamim, who had plenty of pressure on his shoulder after coming into the ODI series on the back of a humiliating two-match Test series defeat, where the Chittagong native failed to fire.

Tamim scored his 10th ODI century in the first ODI on a slow and turning Guyana pitch off 146 balls, smashing seven fours and a six. It may have been the slowest century by a Bangladesh batsman, but the seasoned left-hander played catch up after that. He remained unbeaten on 130 off 160 balls, scoring his final 30 runs off 14 balls, hitting three fours and a couple of sixes.

"What I wanted to do and my team asked me to do was bat long and this was the plan and I did it successfully. The wicket in Guyana wasn't easy as it was spinning and in the first ODI it was seaming as well so you need to spend a lot of time in the middle. Patience is the key and I think that is the reason I got the big runs," Tamim said on Saturday.

He also added a record 207-run second-wicket stand with Shakib Al Hasan which laid the foundation for the Tigers to charge later in the innings to post 279 for 4.

The dashing southpaw however had a tough time in the second ODI where he scored 54 off 85 balls and at one point was unable to rotate the strike.

However, he managed to came back in the third ODI and showed his immense ability to register his 11th ODI hundred. He smote 103 off 124 balls, helping the Tigers post 301 -- the highest total by Bangladesh in the West Indies -- and eventually win the series by 18 runs.

"As I always said: when you score runs and your team wins that's the best thing you can ask for. What I can say is that the amount of patience in all the three matches is a reflection of my hard work, which paid off," he concluded.